Sharyl
Attkisson: 'Well-Funded Actors' Manipulate News and the Way We
Think

"Transactional
journalism"
refers to inappropriate dealings behind the scenes
some journalists have with political actors, the television
host and
author of the new book The
Smear said.

"Virtually
every
image you run across, whether it is in the news or on social
media or elsewhere, even on comedy shows is being put there,
[the
players I interviewed in the 'smear universe'] say, for a
purpose by
somebody who wants you to think something that may not
necessarily be
a consensus at all, or may not even be true," Attkisson told
host Shannon Bream.

"Well-funded
actors"
with "fake accounts" on social media and "a
ton of money" use them to manipulate how we think, Attkisson
said.

Attkinson
offered
some advice for anyone reading the news: "Trust
your cognitive dissonance" when you see a story telling you
everyone thinks a certain way.

News
reporters
are supposed to be the ones sorting through the mess of
information so the public knows what to believe, Attkinson
said.
Instead, the news these days has "so many serious mistakes,
even
by formerly well-respected news outlets." People should do
their
own research to find out what is true, she advised.